Finger Lakes Fifties: Following The Rules

Mr. Bimble has, from time to time, admonished me to not pay TOO much money per mile of race. As a “good consumer”, I strive for the “holy grail” of $1/mile. Ultra recently reminded me that it is best to not spend more time driving to/from the race than is spent RUNNING the race. With all these rules firmly in mind, I went to the race to accomplish some goals.

The appeal of the race for me was that it was timed perfectly as a last long well-supported training run before I started my VT100 taper. It would also serve as a “shakedown” race to do final testing of techniques/strategies/equipment. I definitely planned to “go slow”, and that turned out to be the EASIEST part of the plan to follow…

The trip up to the FL50s took a long time due to 4th of July traffic, but was otherwise uneventful. We arrived at the start/finish campsite around 11PM and MOST of us set up our tents quickly and “accurately” so as to get to sleep as soon as we could. GPS apparently needs more “training runs” with his tent! Fortunately for him, an early wakeup was not mandatory. Unfortunately for ET/Hillary, setting up directly adjacent to the generator, which got fired up at 3:30AM, was not optimal either. I was amazed at how cold I was overnight, and while that caused me to get very little sleep, I thought it meant that temperatures the following day would be comfortable. Hah!

We awoke around 5:30, more or less, about 20 yards from the pre-race breakfast, which included OJ (no, not THAT OJ), muffins, and (instant, yuck) coffee. Just short of an hour later, we took a short walk to the starting line, failed to hear CRITICAL information from the RD about a course change, and the race began. The basic format for the race is one BIG loop and one LITTLE loop. 50 mile racers do the BIG loop 3 times and the LITTLE loop once, while 50K racers do the BIG loop twice. There are little “tweaks” to make sure all distances are EXACT (just like in Mr. Bimble’s races). GPS and Hillary cheered us on, and then, I assume, went back to sleep. We started down a dirt road in the Finger Lakes National Forest and Loopy and I quickly lost sight of El Toro as we entered the single track. The BIG loop was a constantly changing, VERY scenic combination of single track, dirt roads, cow pastures (please close the gates behind you, and don’t be afraid of the bulls), and a very small amount of paved road. The aid stations were frequent and well-stocked, although a little lacking in variety. There were also several “checkpoints”, manned by forest service personnel, whose job was apparently solely to determine if anyone failed to find their way to the finish line. Sometime during this first trip around the BIG loop, GPS headed out with family from Ithaca to explore the Gorge at Watkins Glen (“Glen”, get it?) The rumors of his registration in the 25K were just that, rumors! I tried to stop and eat at all aid stations, but broke down on my discipline after Loopy flew by me twice, skipping aid stations while I grazed. I probably should have grazed less, because after the first 10 miles or so, it became obvious that I was coming down with a case of Iroquois’ Revenge, which some others call Montezuma’s Revenge.

I finished the first go-around and was greeted by Hillary, who told me that El Toro passed through 18 minutes earlier. By mid-way through the second go-around, I clocked El Toro at a “crossover” and found him to be 45 minutes ahead of me. At the Pineland Farms 50, I did the first loop too fast, the second loop too slow, and the third loop just right. Here at Finger Lakes, my first loop was just right, my second loop was CLEARLY going to be too slow, so I was hoping to do the third loop too fast. Hah!

By early in the second go-around, I had NO pesky food or fluids in my system to cause me any distress. I then switched over to water/electrolytes only and started feeling “well” but very warm, as the day was getting hot. The temperature would eventually sneak just over 90 degrees, I believe. My first “split” was roughly 2:55, and I came around the second time in 6:15. That was quite a slow-down, but seemingly manageable, assuming I would feel better soon. There is the option of stopping after the second go-around and finishing the 50K. I had made up my mind that if I got in under 6:30, I would commit to the 50 miles. So, I decided to move onward. As soon as I committed, I got two pieces of news from Hillary: 1) El Toro was about 1 hour ahead of me, and Loopy was probably 15 minutes behind me, and stopping at 50K! Hillary’s timing was IMPECCABLE. So, now I was hot, hungry, thirsty, tired, and loathing the fact that my fellow Bimblers would be waiting a LONG time, just for me! Yet, “It is what it is”. I made a few feeble attempts to consume calories in the early parts of the third go-round, and they just didn’t work. Still, I was getting water/electrolytes in, and keeping them in, so I moved along well, and started passing several people. I talked to some folks who I will see in VT, some who were at Iroquois last fall, etc… There aren’t actually as many of “us” out there as I thought, these races all “fill up” with the same people!

I was liking the non-puking, passing people mode I was in, but I was living on “borrowed calories”. With incredible suddenness, and no warning, about 2/3 of the way through the third go-around, out in the middle of the BIG pasture, the wheels came off. I utterly ran out of gas. No muscle pain, not really lightheaded, just no energy, at all. I tried to walk, but found standing still was more my speed. Eventually I started to walk slowly, and everyone who I had passed earlier on this go-around passed me back again. Even the “napping lady”. As I walked toward the last aid station on the BIG loop, I forced down a pouch of Sport Beans, and started to experience a little “sugar high”. I actually managed to slowly run the “big hill” out of the last aid station, passing two runners, who promptly passed me back, again, at the top of the hill. There were almost 3 miles from that last aid station on the BIG loop to the finish, where the LITTLE (3.5 mile) loop would start, or so I was told by the race web site. While I managed to actually jog, I also imagined the pure pleasure of DNFing at mile 46.5!!!!! I had to banish that thought, so I came up with a plan.

I knew that when I finished the BIG loop, four Bimblers would be standing around, really tired, hot, and bored. I decided that if AT LEAST one of them didn’t offer to pace me through the final 3.5 miles, they would all get a real earful from me through my last dieing breaths. Well, I was in for a surprise…

I came upon one of the seemingly man-made ponds that dotted the course sporadically. This one was a quarter mile, at the most, from the end of the BIG loop. El Toro was in the muddy, brackish, too-warm pond up to his neck. He reminds me of Eva a bit. Everyone started yelling “go Forrest!”. I didn’t FEEL any “go”, but apparently they saw some? Then, El Toro shouted out “1/2 mile to go”. OK! Not ONLY is he splashing about while I am in misery… not ONLY is he not offering to pace me the final 3.5 miles… to top it all off, he is MOCKING me about the distance remaining! I gave ET a look that, if I was doing it right, perfectly encapsulated every four letter word I have ever heard him utter on the trail 🙂 I think the look worked, because everyone else came back with “NO, really Forrest, the LITTLE loop is only 1/2 mile, NOT 3 and 1/2 miles!” I was torn between unrestrained joy and deep distrust. Then Loopy, who clearly had already showered, changed, had her hair done, and probably went for a manicure and a pedicure too, offered to pace me the rest of the way. At that point, I believed the 1/2 mile, and hence, politely (?) refused the pacing. Still, passing the “finish line” utterly drained, with 49.5 miles behind me, only to plunge back into the woods, was an ENORMOUS leap-of-faith. Not only was it the shortest 3.5 miles I have ever run, it was the shortest 1/2 mile as well. I crossed the line around 9:53, more than 2 hours slower than at Pineland Farms.

Packing up the tent was tedious, participating in the post-race BBQ was impossible, and in relatively (at least from my perspective) short order, I was ready for our crew to begin the ride home. We stopped and ate al fresco in Roscoe, NY aka “Trout Town USA” at the very same place we ate on the way home from Iroquois last fall, Buffalo Zach’s Cafe. I left my house at 3:00 PM Friday, and was home by 1:00 AM Sunday (needed some sleep before the Dog Run) with 600 miles in the car and 50 miles on the feet in between.

Oh, what about the rules? I did fairly well, I think:

I kept expense under $1 per mile.

My 10 hour race time was approximately the same duration as the 600 mile round trip time in the car.

I went REAL slow.

No Bimblers were left behind.

I didn’t DNF.

PICTURES

OK IGGY, you wanted a “Tapir”, didn’t you?